Economy of Adygea
Overview Adygea's economy has traditionally revolved around , cultivation of fruits, and ; oil and natural gas drilling; mining of and copper; and output of a large industrial sector producing , , , and , but has in recent years swung very quickly to a more diversified economy. The country supplies much of its own economic needs, primarily and . There is also a significant energy resource in hydropower. Despite the severe damage the economy has suffered due to civil strife in the years of the country's stabilization, Adygea, with the help of the and , made substantial economic gains since , making increasing growth and slashing top priorities. In contrast to most other post-Soviet economic woes, Adygea has maintained a steady economic growth since , with tough policies on corruption. Promising investment deals and warming relations with Western nations make for a positive forecast for the Adygean economy. In greater depth Adygea is mostly dependent on agriculture and tourism to fuel its industry. Mining, industrial production and machining, and oil and natural gas production make up secondary sectors of the economy. Corruption and counter-revolutionary factions in the government have made it difficult to move the economy forward, further compounded by ethnic disputes in North-West Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria, and Asian and Russian economic troubles, which Adygea historically relied on to export most of its goods. Through the Our Adygea political movement, however, Adygea has been making steady headway in reform policies, by means of extremely tough anti-corruption laws. These laws are the subject of debate elsewhere in the world, which may consider them authoritarian and heavy-handed. Adygea's power distribution system was privatized at the beginning of the administration of Sovmen, the first Our Adygea President, as were many other industries, including, controversially, the arms manufacturing industry, as well as the telecommunications industry (the latter of which forced through Parliament on the third try). As a result, Adygea is much better equipped than other post-Soviet societies to provide a basic framework for its citizens. Prices, once dictated by the state, are now able to be set by private companies, with zero governmental involvement therein—again, with much controversy. Adygea has been attempting to make headway in reducing the size of the government, leading some to believe that Sovmen, and especially Bacherikov, the current President, are effectively libertarians. Agriculture, largely destroyed during the years of turmoil following the breakup of the Soviet Union, has begun to make a comeback in the Adygean economy, although it is periodically plagued with diseases and infestations. Several federal initiatives have been implemented by Bacherikov's administration to attempt to favour farmers more than Adygea under Sovmen. These are largely in the form of transportation assistance and tariffs on foreign agricultural goods, but it is unclear how effective these measures will be—especially since Adygea cannot afford to lose vital trade partners by placing tariffs too high. Donations from the United Kingdom, Belgium, Spain, Canada and the United States have in recent years begun to change from humanitarian aid to technical aid, in the form of lawyers, parliamentarians, industrial specialists, and so on and so forth. Other statistics Investment (gross fixed): 14.08% of GDP (2005 est.) Household income or consumption by percentage share: * lowest 10%: 2.8% * highest 10%: 26.5% (1996) Distribution of family income - : 37.5 (2003) Agriculture - products: , , , s, s; Industrial production growth rate: ?% (2000) Electricity: * production: ?.? (2003) * consumption: ?.? TWh (2005) * exports: ?.? TWh (2004) * imports: ?.? TWh (2004) Electricity - production by source: * fossil fuel: ??.?% * hydro: ??.?% * nuclear: ??.?% * other: ??.?% (2001) Oil: * production: ??,??? bbl/day (2003) * consumption: ??,??? bbl/day (2003 est.) * exports: NA * imports: NA Natural gas: * production: ?? million m³ (2001 est.) * consumption: ?.? billion m³ (2005 est.) * exports: NA * imports: ?.? billion m³ (2005 est.) Current account balance: $4.61 trillion (2005 est.) Exports - commodities: scrap metal, machinery, chemicals; fuel exports; citrus fruits, tea, wine Imports - commodities: fuels, machinery and parts, transport equipment, grain and other foods, pharmaceuticals Reserves of foreign exchange & gold: $?.?? million (2005 est.) Debt - external: $?.?? billion (2004) Currency exchange rates: Adygean ruble per US dollar - 3.25 (2007), 2.66 (2005), 2.37 (2004), ?.??? (2003), ?.??? (2002), ?.??? (2001), ?.??? (2000) See also * List of Adygean companies Category:Economy of Adygea